'No one wants to be homeless': A glimpse at life on the streets of Tokyo

Being homeless carries a powerful stigma in Japan, where society traditionally places strong importance on self-reliance. The method by which the ministry collects data — local officials patrolling areas during the afternoon and making informal observations — has been criticized as inaccurate. Regardless of the specific figure, however, the number of homeless people in Japan has undeniably decreased in recent years. In 2003, when the ministry first started keeping records, the official figure stood at 25,296. Current figures show it has now fallen to below 5,000. In September 2017, a Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare survey revealed that 42.8 percent of Japan’s homeless population was over 65, the first time the figure had ever gone above 40 percent.